Rapidly Deployable Barrier for High-Speed Projectiles

ABSTRACT

A rapidly deployable barrier is constructed from one or more rows of tubes that are wound from fiber materials. The tubes are arranged in parallel side-by-side relation abutting one another so as to form a wall. A tube in accordance with one embodiment of the invention comprises a plurality of layers of flexible fiber materials wound one upon another about an axis and adhered together to form the tube. The layers include one or more relatively low-penetration-resistant fiber layers and one or more relatively high-penetration-resistant fabric layers formed from fibers selected from the group consisting of polymer fibers, carbon fibers, glass fibers, ceramic fibers, natural fibers, and mixtures thereof. The tube can also include one or more resilient foam layers. The tube can be filled with concrete, sand, steel bar stock, or the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to barriers for protecting personnel fromhigh-speed projectiles such as rifle bullets, shrapnel from explosivedevices, and the like.

Personnel involved in police or military operations frequently have aneed to construct a barrier for protection against threats such ashigh-speed projectiles and vehicles being driven through the barrier.Typically such barriers are constructed at the site of operations usingsand bags, concrete, or mounds of dirt. The on-site construction ofthese types of barriers is time-consuming, and because the materialsused for constructing them are heavy, the construction often requiresthe use of heavy equipment.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses the need for a light-weight, rapidlydeployable barrier as an alternative to the heavy and cumbersome typesof barriers that have typically been used in police and militaryoperations. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, arapidly deployable barrier is constructed from one or more rows oflight-weight tubes that are wound from fiber materials. The tubes arearranged in parallel side-by-side relation abutting one another so as toform a wall of the tubes. The tubes are specially constructed to beresistant to penetration by high-speed projectiles such as riflebullets, shrapnel, and the like.

A tube in accordance with one embodiment of the invention comprises aplurality of layers of flexible fiber materials wound one upon anotherabout an axis and adhered together to form the tube. The layers includeone or more relatively low-penetration-resistant paperboard layers andone or more relatively high-penetration-resistant fabric layers formedfrom fibers selected from the group consisting of polymer fibers, carbonfibers, glass fibers, ceramic fibers, natural fibers, and mixturesthereof. In some embodiments, the fibers can comprise aramid fibers,carbon fibers, liquid crystal polymer fibers, ultra-high molecularweight polyethylene fibers, glass fibers, ceramic fibers, mineral-fillednatural or synthetic fibers, or mixtures thereof.

The tube can be spirally wound from separate strips of the paperboardand fabric materials. Alternatively, the tube can be convolutely woundfrom a single sheet that comprises at least one layer of paperboard andat least one layer of the fabric. Adhesive is used for adhering thelayers of the tube together.

The relatively high-penetration-resistant fabric can be made from yarnsconstructed from the fibers. The fabric can be woven, knitted, felted,fabricated into a nonwoven fabric, or formed in any other suitablefashion. The fabric can comprise yarns of various types and varioussizes.

The paperboard materials used in the tube can be treated to bewater-resistant. As one example, the paperboard can be sized with asizing composition such as ASA, AKD, rosin/alum, or the like.

The tube in preferred embodiments is constructed so that the tube isfoldable into a collapsed or flattened configuration for shipping andstorage. When it is time to deploy the barrier, a plurality of thecollapsed tubes can be reshaped into a tubular configuration and can beerected in a row to form a wall. The tubes are light in weight and thusare easily handled by personnel without the use of heavy equipment.

Part of the lengths of the tubes can be buried in the ground, theportions of the tubes projecting above ground forming a barrier. Thetubes optionally can be filled with a material such as sand, concrete,steel bar stock, or other material that helps prevent completepenetration of projectiles and/or vehicles through the barrier. Thebarrier can comprise a single row of tubes, or alternatively the barriercan comprise two or more rows of tubes one behind another. The tubes inone row can be staggered relative to tubes in an adjacent row such thateach juncture between two tubes in one row is in front of or behind atube in the adjacent row.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will nowbe made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn toscale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rapidly deployable barrier inaccordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view through a tube in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 a top view of a rapidly deployable barrier in accordance withanother embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 depicts a tube being convolutely wound in accordance with afurther embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view along line 5-5 in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view through a wall of a tube inaccordance with yet another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 shows a tube in accordance with the invention in a collapsed orflattened configuration for shipping and storage; and

FIG. 8 shows a tube in accordance with an alternative embodiment of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present inventions now will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings in which some but not allembodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, these inventions may beembodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limitedto the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments areprovided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legalrequirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

A rapidly deployable barrier 10 in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention is shown in FIG. 1. The barrier 10 comprises a plurality ofwound tubes 20 that are hollow and generally cylindrical. By“cylindrical” is meant that the cross-sectional shape of the tube issubstantially constant along the length of the tube, but the term“cylindrical” is not intended to imply that the cross-sectional shapemust be circular. The tubes can have various cross-sectional shapes. Thetubes 20 are positioned in parallel side-by-side relation such that thetubes are abutting one another to form one or more walls. A wall can begenerally planar as shown in FIG. 1, or alternatively the tubes can bearranged to form non-planar walls (e.g., arcuate, L-shaped, C-shaped,polygonal, etc.). The wall(s) can be generally vertically oriented asshown, or can have other orientations. As an example, a generallyvertical wall can be erected by digging a trench and burying the lowerends of the tubes in the trench and filling the trench around the tubes,as illustrated in FIG. 1. While the tubes 20 forming the barrier 10 inFIG. 1 are shown as all being circular and having the same diameter,alternatively the barrier can include tubes of two or more differentcross-sectional shapes and/or two or more different diameters.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view through one of the tubes 20. The tubecomprises a multilayered structure formed by winding flexible sheets orlayers of fiber materials one upon another about an axis and adheringthe layers together with adhesive. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG.2, the tube comprises four layers 22, 24, 26, 28. The outermost layer 22can comprise a relatively high-penetration-resistant fabric formed offibers. As non-limiting examples, the fibers can be selected from aramidfibers (e.g., KEVLAR®, NOMEX®, etc.), carbon fibers, liquid crystalpolymer fibers (e.g., VECTRAN®), ultra-high molecular weightpolyethylene fibers (e.g., SPECTRA® or DYNEEMA®), glass fibers, ceramicfibers, mineral-filled natural or synthetic fibers (e.g., SiC-filled orUBr-filled fibers), and mixtures thereof. The filled natural fibers canbe produced by “lumen loading” the fibers with particles of the fillermaterial. The fabric can be made from yarns constructed from the fibers.The fabric can be woven, knitted, felted, fabricated into a nonwovenfabric, or formed in any other suitable fashion. The fabric can compriseyarns of various types and various sizes. The fabric basis weight canrange from about 10 lb/msf to about 160 lb/msf.

The next two layers 24 and 26 can comprise a relativelylow-penetration-resistant fiber material. As an example, the layers 24can comprise paperboard layers. It will be understood that two layers ofpaperboard are shown merely as an example, and the number andpositioning of paperboard layers within the tube wall can vary. One ormore layers of the tube can comprise paperboard. The paperboard materialcan be treated to be water-resistant. For example, the paperboard can besized with a sizing composition such as alkenyl succinic anhydride(ASA), alkyl ketene dimer (AKD), or rosin and alum. The paperboardlayer(s) can have a thickness or caliper ranging from about 0.13 mm(0.005 inch) to about 1.14 mm (0.045 inch). The density of thepaperboard material can range from about 0.5 g/cc to about 0.9 g/cc.

The innermost layer 28 comprises another layer of the relativelyhigh-penetration-resistant fabric. The fabric of the innermost layer 28can be identical to the fabric of the outermost layer 22. Alternatively,the two fabrics can be different in some respect (e.g., different fibermaterials and/or different basis weights and/or different fabricconstructions). While two fabric layers 22, 28 are shown in FIG. 2, theinvention is not limited to any particular number or positioning offabric layers within the tube wall. The tube can comprise one or morefabric layers.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the tubes 20 can comprise spirally wound tubesformed in a generally conventional spiral tube-making process frommultiple separate plies or layers of the relativelylow-penetration-resistant material and relativelyhigh-penetration-resistant fabric material. The plies are spirally woundone upon another about a cylindrical mandrel and are adhered togetherwith adhesive applied to the plies as they are advanced to the mandrel.Preferably the mandrel is circular in cross-section and the tube formedon the mandrel is advanced in screw fashion along the mandrel by awinding belt, as known in the spiral tube-making art. In this manner, acontinuous tube is formed on the mandrel. The tube is cut into desiredlengths by a suitable cutting saw or the like arranged downstream of themandrel.

Alternatively, a tube in accordance with the invention can be made by aconvolute winding process as schematically depicted in FIG. 4. A sheet30 having a width equal to the desired length of the tube to be producedis prepared and adhesive is applied to one of its surfaces. The sheet isthen rolled up in window shade fashion to form the convolutely woundtube. The sheet 30 in one embodiment is shown in FIG. 5. The illustratedsheet comprises a layer 32 of paperboard and a layer 34 of relativelyhigh-penetration-resistant fabric overlying the paperboard layer. Thetwo layers can be joined together, such as by adhesive, prior toconvolute winding. The sheet 30 can comprise more than two layers (e.g.,more than one layer of paperboard and/or more than one layer of fabric).

FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view through a portion of a wall of atube 20′ in accordance with another embodiment of the invention, whichcan be made by spiral winding or by the convolute winding process. Inparticular, the tube 20′ can be a convolutely wound tube made from thesheet 30 shown in FIG. 5, or can be a spirally wound tube prepared fromfour plies. The tube has an outermost layer 22′ of the fabric, anadjacent layer 24′ of paperboard, a next adjacent layer 26′ of fabric,and an innermost layer 28′ of paperboard.

The tubes 20, 20′ in accordance with the invention preferably are formedso that they are collapsible or foldable into a generally flattenedconfiguration for shipping and storage, as illustrated in FIG. 7. Tomake the tube collapsible, preferably the wall thickness of the tube issmall enough that the tube has substantial flexibility and can be foldedalong longitudinally extending fold lines that do not have to bepre-formed (e.g., by scoring or other weakening of the wall). Thisability to be collapsed without pre-formed fold lines is termed “naturalcollapsibility” herein. The maximum wall thickness that can be employedwhile preserving the natural collapsibility of the tube depends in parton the tube diameter; as the diameter increases, the maximum allowablewall thickness also increases. The maximum allowable wall thickness fornatural collapsibility also depends on the stiffness of the tube wall,which in turn depends on the particular makeup of the tube (i.e., whatmaterials are used, the proportions of each material, the locations ofthe various layers of different materials relative to one another,etc.). Thus, no general rule of thumb dictating the maximum allowablewall thickness for natural collapsibility can be given.

Alternatively, the tube can include one or more pre-formed fold lines. Apre-formed fold line can be made by scoring partially through thethickness of the tube wall. It is preferred that such scoring not cutthrough any of the fabric layers of the tube. As an example, the tubecan have the fabric layer(s) located radially inwardly of one or morepaperboard layers, and the scoring can extend only through one or moreradially outwardly located paperboard layers.

When deploying the barrier 10 such as shown in FIG. 1, the tubes 20 canbe left hollow. Alternatively, for increased protection againstpenetration by high-speed projectiles, the tubes can be filled with adense material such as sand, concrete, or the like, as shown in FIG. 2.The use of a loose filler material such as sand is preferred because thebarrier can be dismantled, the tubes can be emptied of the sand (andcollapsed for transportation or storage, if the tubes are collapsible),and the tubes and the sand can later be salvaged for reuse. Theinvention is also advantageous because the tubes are combustible andthus can be burned at the site, if desired.

In other embodiments, the tubes can be filled with steel bar stock. Thetubes filled with the bar stock can be partially buried to form abarrier that has substantial strength so as to substantially precludethe possibility of a vehicle being driven through the barrier.

When the tube is filled with loose material such as sand, a bullet holeformed through the tube wall can allow sand to escape through the hole,which is undesirable. To address this problem, a tube in accordance withanother embodiment of the invention can include a resilient foam layerthat tends to form a self-closing hole when penetrated by a projectile.A tube 120 having such a foam layer is shown in FIG. 8. The tube 120includes a radially outermost paperboard layer 122, a next adjacentpaperboard layer 124, a further paperboard layer 126, a fabric layer128, and a foam liner layer 130 at the innermost surface of the tube.The foam liner layer 130 can comprise any suitable polymer foam such aspolyethylene, polypropylene, polyurethane, EVA, etc., as long as thefoam has sufficient resilience to form self-closing holes whenpenetrated by projectiles. Tubes in accordance with the invention caninclude one or more such resilient foam layers.

The tube 120 also includes pre-formed fold lines 140 along which thetube can fold for collapsing the tube into a generally flattenedconfiguration for shipping and storage. A fold line 140 is formed byscoring through one or more of the outer paperboard layers 122, 124, 126with a suitable cutting implement. The score line preferably does notpenetrate the fabric layer 128 or the foam layer 130. In one embodiment,the tube includes four such pre-formed fold lines 140 spaced equallyabout the circumference of the tube.

Tubes in accordance with the invention can be made in various diametersand various lengths. For example, the tubes can range in diameter fromabout 1 inch to about 36 inches. The length of the tubes can range fromabout 4 feet on up. Particularly when the tubes are made by thecontinuous spiral process, there is no theoretical upper limit onlength, but for practical reasons it is desirable to keep the tubes to areasonable length so that they can be readily shipped and handled.Generally, tubes are most conveniently shipped and handled when they donot exceed about 15 feet in length.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forthherein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which theseinventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in theforegoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is tobe understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specificembodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments areintended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a genericand descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

1. A wound fiber tube useful in combination with a plurality of other such tubes for constructing a barrier against high-speed projectiles, the tube comprising: a plurality of layers of flexible fiber materials wound one upon another about an axis and adhered together to form the tube, the layers including one or more relatively low-penetration-resistant fiber layers and one or more relatively high-penetration-resistant fabric layers formed from fibers selected from the group consisting of polymer fibers, carbon fibers, glass fibers, ceramic fibers, natural fibers, and mixtures thereof.
 2. The wound fiber tube of claim 1, wherein the fabric layers are formed from fibers selected from the group consisting of aramid fibers, carbon fibers, liquid crystal polymer fibers, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers, glass fibers, ceramic fibers, mineral-filled natural or synthetic fibers, and mixtures thereof.
 3. The wound fiber tube of claim 1, wherein the tube is spirally wound.
 4. The wound fiber tube of claim 1, wherein the tube is convolutely wound from a sheet comprising one or more paperboard layers and one or more relatively high-penetration-resistant fabric layers, the sheet being convolutely wound to form the tube.
 5. The wound fiber tube of claim 1, wherein the tube is foldable into a collapsed configuration having reduced volume for shipping and storage.
 6. The wound fiber tube of claim 1, wherein the one or more relatively low-penetration-resistant fibers layers comprise paperboard.
 7. The wound fiber tube of claim 6, wherein the paperboard comprises paperboard sized with a sizing composition for imparting water-resistance to the paperboard.
 8. The wound fiber tube of claim 1, further comprising one or more resilient foam layers.
 9. The wound fiber tube of claim 8, wherein one of the one or more resilient foam layers is an innermost layer of the tube.
 10. The wound fiber tube of claim 1, further comprising longitudinal pre-formed fold lines formed in the tube along which the tube can fold for collapsing the tube into a generally flattened configuration for shipping and storage.
 11. The wound fiber tube of claim 10, where there are four of the pre-formed fold lines spaced equally about the circumference of the tube.
 12. A rapidly deployable barrier for high-speed projectiles, comprising: at least one row of wound fiber tubes disposed in parallel abutting relation to form a wall, each wound fiber tube comprising a plurality of layers of flexible fiber materials wound one upon another about an axis and adhered together to form the tube, the layers including one or more relatively low-penetration-resistant fiber layers and one or more relatively high-penetration-resistant fabric layers formed from fibers selected from the group consisting of polymer fibers, carbon fibers, glass fibers, ceramic fibers, natural fibers, and mixtures thereof.
 13. The rapidly deployable barrier of claim 12, wherein the one or more relatively high-penetration-resistant fabric layers are formed from fibers selected from the group consisting of aramid fibers, carbon fibers, liquid crystal polymer fibers, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers, glass fibers, ceramic fibers, mineral-filled natural or synthetic fibers, and mixtures thereof.
 14. The rapidly deployable barrier of claim 12, wherein one or more of the tubes are spirally wound.
 15. The rapidly deployable barrier of claim 12, wherein one or more of the tubes are convolutely wound from a sheet comprising one or more relatively low-penetration-resistant fiber layers and one or more relatively high-penetration-resistant fabric layers, the sheet being convolutely wound to form the tube.
 16. The rapidly deployable barrier of claim 12, wherein each tube is foldable into a collapsed configuration having reduced volume for shipping and storage.
 17. The rapidly deployable barrier of claim 12, wherein the one or more relatively low-penetration-resistant fiber layers of each tube comprise paperboard.
 18. The rapidly deployable barrier of claim 16, wherein the paperboard comprises paperboard sized with a sizing composition.
 19. The rapidly deployable barrier of claim 12, wherein the rapidly deployable barrier comprises a first row of the tubes and a second row of the tubes positioned parallel to and behind the first row, the tubes of the second row being staggered relative to the tubes of the first row such that a juncture between any two tubes of the first row is backed up by a tube of the second row.
 20. The rapidly deployable barrier of claim 12, wherein the tubes are filled with a material for enhancing penetration-resistance of the tubes.
 21. The rapidly deployable barrier of claim 20, wherein the material comprises sand.
 22. The rapidly deployable barrier of claim 20, wherein the material comprises concrete.
 23. A construction member for constructing a barrier against high-speed projectiles, comprising: a hollow tube comprising a plurality of layers of flexible material wound one upon another about an axis of the tube and adhered together to form the tube, the layers including a layer of resilient foam; and a loose particulate material filling an interior space defined by the tube to enhance the barrier performance of the construction member.
 24. The construction member of claim 23, wherein the layer of resilient foam forms an innermost surface of the tube. 